Jaw crusher bucket

ABSTRACT

A jaw crusher bucket ( 50 ) for attaching to a front-end loader or excavator has a plurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth ( 56 ), and jaw means ( 52, 54 ) for crushing any large pieces of rubble split from the rock or concrete into smaller pieces. There is a stationary jaw ( 52 ) which supports the teeth ( 56 ), and a pivotally movable jaw ( 54 ) which is able to move by a hydraulic ram ( 67 ) to cause the movable jaw ( 54 ) to be urged towards the stationary jaw ( 52 ) and so crush the rubble.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a jaw crusher bucket for use insplitting and crushing large pieces of rubble, such as large bouldersand chunks of concrete at a quarry or demolition site.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventional rock quarrying methods result in the accumulation ofstockpiles of large boulders split from the quarry rock face thatrequire crushing. At present, the crushing of excavated large bouldersis achieved with the use of dedicated rock breaking machinery and isboth time consuming and noisy due to the hammering process involved.Similarly, the demolition of concrete slab structures often produceslarge pieces or chunks of concrete requiring crushing for efficientdisposal at tips and land fill sites.

There is a high cost associated with using dedicated rock and concretebreaking machinery which, when coupled to the high fees for disposing oflarge boulders and pieces of concrete at tips and land fill sites,encourages their illegal dumping at remote road sides and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a jaw crusher bucketwhich eliminates the need to use the dedicated rock and concretebreaking machinery of the prior art. It is another object of theinvention to provide a jaw crusher bucket which serves both as a rockand concrete splitter and as a crusher of large pieces of rubble thatmay result from the splitting.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, there is provided a jaw crusherbucket for attaching to a front-end loader or excavator, comprising aplurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth, and jaw means forcrushing any large pieces of rubble split from the rock or concrete intosmaller pieces.

The jaw means of the jaw crusher bucket preferably comprises astationary jaw and a movable jaw.

It is preferred that the stationary jaw includes the rock and concretesplitting teeth, which extend from a mouth of the jaw crusher bucket.

In a preferred form, the jaw crusher bucket includes hydraulic ram meansto enable movement of the movable jaw when under the control of a driverof a front-end loader or excavator.

Preferably, the jaw crusher bucket includes a gap between the stationaryjaw and the movable jaw remote of the mouth for allowing the crushedsmaller pieces of rubble to fall therethrough.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a front-end loader, to which a jawcrusher bucket according to a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention is attached, being operated to load a large piece of rubbleinto the bucket,

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the front-end loader of FIG. 1 inwhich the jaw crusher bucket has been manoeuvred to an upright positionfor crushing the large piece of rubble into smaller pieces,

FIG. 3 is a simplified side view of a jaw crusher bucket according toone form of the invention for crushing large pieces of split concrete,

FIG. 4 is a simplified rear perspective view of the jaw crusher bucketshown in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a detailed rear perspective view of a preferred jaw crusherbucket of the invention for crushing large boulders,

FIG. 6 is a part sectional side view of the jaw crusher bucket shown inFIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a toggle lever used in the jawcrusher bucket shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the crushing surface side of the movablejaw of the jaw crusher bucket shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of an excavator, to which a preferredjaw rusher bucket of the present invention is attached, being operatedto crush a large piece of rubble into smaller pieces,

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of an underground mining vehicle, towhich a preferred jaw crusher bucket of the present invention isattached, being operated to load a large piece of rubble into thebucket,

FIG. 11 is a simplified side view of a jaw crusher bucket according toanother embodiment of the invention, in which the mounting location ofthe movable jaw is adjustable,

FIG. 12 is a more detailed front perspective view of a main housingassembly of the jaw crusher bucket of FIG. 11,

FIG. 13 is a more detailed front perspective view of a movable jawmounting assembly of the jaw crusher bucket of FIG. 11,

FIG. 14 is a more detailed front perspective view of a toggle lever ofthe jaw crusher bucket of FIG. 11, and

FIG. 15 is a more detailed front perspective view of a movable jaw ofthe jaw crusher bucket of FIG. 11.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The front-end loader 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has operably attachedthereto a jaw crusher bucket 12 which can be operated by the driver ofthe loader 10 to pivot about axle mounts (not shown) between the tiltedloading position of FIG. 1, where a large piece of rubble 14 is beingloaded into the bucket 12, and the upright crushing position of FIG. 2.The pivotal motion of the bucket 12 is guided by a hydraulic ram 16.Smaller, crushed pieces of rubble 15 are shown in FIG. 2.

The jaw crusher bucket 20 shown in simplified view in FIGS. 3 and 4 hasa stationary jaw 22 and a movable jaw 24. Extending from the top of thestationary jaw 22 are a plurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth25 that define a front side of a mouth 26 of the bucket 20. The movablejaw 24 is rotatably mounted at the rear side of the mouth 26 by a shaftassembly 28. The sides of the mouth 26 joining the stationary jaw 22 andthe movable jaw 24 are strengthened by reinforcing plates 29. Connectedto the rear of the movable jaw 24 via a mounting flange 30 is thecylinder end of a hydraulic ram 32, the extendable and retractable rod34 of which is engaged to a first end 36 of a toggle lever 38. Thetoggle lever 38 is pivotally mounted via a pivot shaft 40 to opposedsides 41 of the bucket 20, and a recess in the kinked second end 42 ofthe lever 38 receives one end of a dog bone shaped link arm 43. Theother end of the link arm 43 is received in a recess formed in a pushplate 44 which is secured to the rear of the movable jaw 24. There areupper and lower pairs of loader mounting hitch flanges 46 secured to therear cross members 47 of the bucket 20 for receiving the bucket tiltoperating arm assembly (not shown) of the loader or excavator to whichthe bucket 20 is attached.

Crushed smaller pieces of rock and concrete fall through a bottom gap 48between the stationary jaw 22 and the movable jaw 24 remote of the mouth26. The driver operates the ram 32 to extend its rod 34 and cause thetoggle lever 38 to pivot in a clockwise direction (relative to FIGS. 3and 4) and so cause the movable jaw 24 to pivot in the same direction,bringing it closer to the stationary jaw 22 and thus crushing largepieces of rubble loaded in the bucket 20.

The jaw crusher bucket 50 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is similar in functionto that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and has a stationary jaw 52, a movablejaw 54 and a row of teeth 56. The movable jaw 54 is rotatably mounted atthe rear of the mouth 58 opposite the teeth 56 by a shaft 59 housed in abush 60 and secured to strengthened opposed upper sides 61 a, 61 b ofthe bucket 50. There is a load bearing cradle 63 for the jaw bush 60,and stabilising web plates 64 a, 64 b, 64 c extend radially from thecradle 63 and have opposed side key portions 65 a, 65 b, 65 c that fitsecurely into slots formed through the sides 61 a, 61 b of the bucket50. There are a pair of mounting flanges 66 on the rear of the movablejaw 54 to which are connected a hydraulic ram 67 partly locatedtherebetween. The reciprocating rod 68 of the ram 67 is pivotallyattached to upper mounting flanges 70 of a toggle lever 72 (shown indetail in FIG. 7). The toggle lever 72 has a downwardly flaredbifurcated body 74 that joins to a bush 76 that houses a shaft 77 forallowing the toggle lever 72 to rotate under control of the ram 67. Theshaft 77 is mounted to opposed lower sides 61 c, 61 d of the bucket 50.There is a load bearing cradle 80 for the toggle bush 76, andstabilising web plates 82 a, 82 b, 82 c extend radially from the cradle80 and have opposed side key portions 84 a, 84 b, 84 c that fit securelyinto slots formed through the bucket sides 61 c, 61 d. Extending fromthe toggle bush 76 are a pair of seats 86, each of which receive a firstend of a strengthened push block 88 of a desired length againstreplaceable wear plate 89 of the seat 86. The other end of each pushblock 88 is received in a socket 90 at the rear of the movable jaw 54,each socket 90 having a replaceable wear plate 92 against which the pushblock 88 urges by pivotal operation of the toggle lever 72. Heavy dutycoil springs 94 are connected at respective first ends thereof to arespective lower flanged portion 98 of the toggle lever 72 and areconnected at respective second ends thereof to a respective plate 102 atthe rear of the movable jaw 54.

The springs 94 cause the movable jaw 54 to retract from the stationaryjaw 52 when the ram 67 is operated to retract its rod 68 and cause thetoggle lever 72 to pivot in an anticlockwise direction (relative to FIG.6), and so allow crushed, small pieces of rock and concrete to fallthrough a bottom gap 104 between the stationary jaw 52 and movable jaw54.

Slottedly secured to web plates 64 b and 105, which rigidly span theopposed sides 61 of the bucket 50 behind the movable jaw 54, is a hitchmounting assembly 106 comprising a pair of brackets 108 interconnectedby a cylinder mount 110 for rotatably receiving a first part of a buckettilt operating arm assembly (not shown) of, say, a front-end loader.Each bracket 108 has a series of radially spaced apart pin adjustmentholes 112 and a plurality of pin insertion holes (obscured by nuts 114shown in FIG. 5) adapted for engaging a respective, positionallyadjustable, hitch elbow 116. Each hitch elbow 116 has a forearm portion118, and the two forearm portions 118 are interconnected by a cylindermount 120 for rotatably receiving a second part of the bucket tiltoperating arm assembly. There is a radial slot 122 formed through theupper arm portion 124 and there is a series of radially spaced apartadjustment slots 126 formed through the reinforced joint portion 128 ofeach hitch elbow 116. The location of the radial slot 122 in a hitchelbow 116 can overlap with the location of the pin adjustment holes 112in an adjacent bracket 108, and the location of the adjustment slots 126in a hitch elbow 116 can overlap with the location of the pin insertionholes in an adjacent bracket 108, so that a hitch elbow 116 can besecured to its adjacent bracket 108 at a selected one of a predeterminednumber of positions by lock pins or bolts 130, thus enabling the bucket50 to be operably attached to a variety of operating arm assemblyconfigurations.

Fixed to the inner surface of a side wall 61 of the bucket 50 is apressure release valve system 132 (protected by a casing 133) forcontrolling the flow of hydraulic fluid through the hoses 134 to andfrom the ram 67. The valve system 132 provides automatic termination ofthe operation of the hydraulic ram 67 if the movable jaw 54 experiencesexcessive crushing resistance.

The stationary jaw 52 of jaw crusher bucket 50 has a convexly curvedouter face 136 to facilitate the splitting from a quarry rock face orfrom a concrete slab of rubble. A point on the face 136 may act as apivotal fulcrum for manoeuvring the bucket 50 during manipulationagainst the rock face or concrete slab. The stationary jaw 52 hasreinforcing cross-ribs 138 at its outer face 136. There are convexlytapered piercing splines 142 on its inner face 140, the height of thepiercing splines 142 from the inner face 140 being greater about halfway down the jaw 52 than near the mouth 58 or near the bottom gap 104.Also, the more centrally located splines 142 extend forwardly from theinner face 140 to a greater extent than the splines 142 located towardsthe edges thereof, thus presenting a convex profile of the splines 142in two perpendicular directions. The splines 142 of the stationary jaw52 facilitate the bending and resultant splitting and crushing of largeconcrete pieces loaded in the bucket 50 when the movable jaw 54 is urgedtowards the stationary jaw 52.

The movable jaw 54 of jaw crusher bucket 50 has, at its rear face,reinforcing cross-ribs 144 interconnected by reinforcing upright ribs.There are generally inwardly tapered grinding and crushing ribs 148extending downwardly the full length of its inner face 150 (as shown inFIG. 8). Also, the more centrally located ribs 148 extend forwardly fromthe inner face 150 to a lesser extent than the ribs 148 located towardsthe edges thereof, thus presenting a concave profile in the horizontaldirection and an inwardly tapered profile in the vertical direction. Theribs 148 facilitate the grinding of rubble loaded in the bucket 50during its jaw crushing operation.

The excavator 152 shown in FIG. 9 has operably attached thereto a jawcrusher bucket 154, that is being operated by the driver of theexcavator 152 to firstly crush large pieces of rubble 156, which it hassplit from a rock face and loaded in the bucket 154, and secondlydeposit the resulting small pieces of rubble 158 upon the ground as maybe necessary for stockpiling of useful rubble pieces. The resultingsmall pieces of rubble 158 may alternatively be loaded onto a truck fortransportation to a required landfill or other site, or may be loadedinto a cone crusher or the like for further processing of the smallpieces of rubble into gravel and smaller particles.

The underground mining vehicle 160 shown in FIG. 10 has operablyattached thereto a jaw crusher bucket 162 and has been operated by thevehicle's driver to split a large rock 164 from a mine face 166 and toscoop it into the bucket 162, the large rock 164 then to be subject tothe jaw crushing operation of the bucket 162.

The jaw crusher bucket 170 shown in FIG. 11, whilst particularly suitedfor use on underground mining vehicles, is similar in basic function tothe bucket shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and has a stationary jaw 172, amovable jaw 174 and a row of teeth 176. The mounting location of themovable jaw 174 is, however, adjustable to any of a predetermined numberof locations opposite the stationary jaw 172.

As shown more clearly in FIG. 12, the opposed sides 180 a, 180 b of amain housing assembly 178 of the bucket 170 include respective top teethdefining portions 182 a, 182 b along an upper edge, and respective,upwardly facing, bottom teeth defining portions 184 a, 184 b on theinside surfaces of the opposed sides 180 a, 180 b.

There is a movable jaw mounting assembly 186, shown more clearly in FIG.13, which has opposed, downwardly facing, top teeth defining portions188 a, 188 b on the outside surfaces of the assembly 186, and opposed,downwardly facing, bottom teeth defining portions 190 a, 190 b along alower edge of the assembly 186.

The top teeth defining portions are adapted to intermesh (182 a with 188a, and 182 b with 188 b), as are the bottom teeth defining portions (184a with 190 a, and 184 b with 190 b), when the movable jaw mountingassembly 186 is located at its desired adjustment position with the mainhousing assembly 178, thereby defining new fixed positions for pivotingof the movable jaw crusher 174, and for pivoting the toggle lever 192,and for mounting of hitches and flanges of the bucket 170 to thevehicle. The adjustable relocation of the movable jaw 174 with respectto the stationary jaw 172 will be of benefit to crushing rubble of awide variety of sizes and mass, see massive rock 193 in FIG. 11.

The main housing assembly 178 includes a pair of opposed main pivotaxles 194, and lift ram mounting shafts 196 and push ram brackets 198for mounting lift rams 200 and push rams 202 respectively. When desired,the lift rams 200 lift the movable jaw mounting assembly 186 from itsintermeshed engagement with the main housing assembly 178, and the pushrams 202 push (or pull) the disengaged movable jaw mounting assembly 186forwards or backwards to a desired location before the lift rams 200lower the movable jaw mounting assembly 186 back into intermeshedengagement with the main housing assembly 178 but at a thus adjustedmounting location of the movable jaw 174.

There are a pair of hydraulic rams 204 for operating the toggle lever192. The rams 204 are connected at their cylinder ends to brackets 206mounted on the movable jaw mounting assembly 186 and at their rod endsto the mounting apertures 207 (see FIG. 14) of the toggle lever 192.

The movable jaw 174 includes a bushing 208 for receiving therethrough apivot shaft, and crushing ribs 210 projecting from the rock crushingface of the jaw 174. The bushing 208 is housed lengthwise in a cradle212 and between the opposed forward extensions 213 of the top teethdefining portions 188 a, 188 b through which holes 214 are formed toreceive the ends of the pivot shaft. Lock bolts secure the pivot shaftfor the toggle lever 192 to the movable jaw mounting assembly 186.

The toggle lever 192 has a bushing 220 for receiving therethrough apivot shaft 216, and a pair of seats 222 for receiving one end ofrespective dog bone shaped link arms 224. The other end of each link arm224 is received in a respective recess formed in a push plate 226, apair of which are secured to the rear of the movable jaw 174.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and constructionwithout departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.

For instance, a guillotine and magnets may be fitted at the bottom gapof the jaw crusher bucket, particularly one that is designed to crushsteel reinforced concrete slab pieces. Unwanted steel waste from theslab may thus be isolated from the small crushed concrete piecesdeposited from the bucket.

Also, a hydraulic ram may be connected to the stationary jaw foroperating the movement of the teeth thereon so as to further facilitatemanoeuvring and the splitting of boulders from rock faces and concretechunks from slabs.

Still further, the crushing surfaces of the stationary and movable jawsmay be replaceable by bolt-on prefabricated plates having piercingsplines or ribs of a desired configuration formed thereon.

1. A jaw crusher bucket for attaching to a front-end loader orexcavator, comprising a plurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth,and jaw means for crushing any large pieces of rubble split from therock or concrete into smaller pieces.
 2. The jaw crusher bucket of claim1 wherein the jaw means comprises a stationary jaw and a movable jaw. 3.The jaw crusher bucket of claim 2 wherein the stationary jaw includesthe rock and concrete splitting teeth, which extend from a mouth of thejaw crusher bucket.
 4. The jaw crusher bucket of claim 2 includinghydraulic ram means to enable movement of the movable jaw when under thecontrol of a driver of a front-end loader or excavator.
 5. The jawcrusher bucket of claim 3 including a gap between the stationary jaw andthe movable jaw remote of the mouth for allowing the crushed smallerpieces of rubble to fall therethrough.
 6. The jaw crusher bucket ofclaim 2 wherein the movable jaw is pivotally movable.
 7. The jaw crusherbucket of claim 4 wherein the hydraulic ram means causes pivotalmovement of a toggle lever which, in turn, causes pivotal movement ofthe movable jaw.
 8. The jaw crusher bucket of claim 1 including bracketmeans which support mounting means for a first part of a bucket tiltoperating arm assembly of a front-end loader or excavator, and whichsupport hitch means for a second part of the bucket tilt operating armassembly, the mounting position of the hitch means on the bracket meansbeing adjustable for enabling the bucket to be operably attached tovarious configurations of operating arm assembly.